|
from Manchester
Evening News Tuesday 21 March 2000
Reds cobbler’s
medal for sale
BY JOHN VINCENT
A VICTORIA Cross awarded
to a war hero who made football boots for Manchester United is expected to
fetch up to £50,000 at auction.
Cobbler John Readitt -
who had a 10-year contract to supply footwear to the Reds with his father -
was awarded the ultimate accolade after single-handedly taking on an entire
army.
His medal is expected to
fetch £50,000 when it is sold at auctioneers’ Spink’s in London next
month.
John and his father
signed a contract to make and mend Manchester United’s boots at their clog
shop on Ashton New Road, Clayton more than 80 years ago. But just months
after they clinched the deal the First World War began and 17-year-old John
enlisted into the sixth Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment.
In 1917 John’s platoon
was sent to Mesopotamia, where on February 25 they led an attack on the
Turk-held city of Kut-Al-Amara. Despite the death of his officer, the
fearless private continually led advances on 1,500 enemy machine gunners for
more than an hour — and each time he was the only member of the party to
return.
Readitt was discharged
in July 1919 and received his VC from George V at Buckingham Palace that
November. He then returned to the family clog shop to resume making boots
for United. He married in 1921, fathered two Sons and a daughter and died in
Clayton in June 1964 aged 67.
Back
to News Clips Contents
|
Recent Additions
